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Letters
Definitely Not Boring
I just wanted to pay a compliment to Siobhan Braun, the woman who wrote San Diego Became a Beautiful Blonde (Cover Story, September 24). I read quite a few of your feature articles, and this is one of the most interesting. I lasted all the way through, even though she’s a mother with three kids and I’m a 70-year-old single guy. I remember going through the same exact things when I first came to San Diego, and I want to encourage her: she will find a house. Maybe a duplex or something in an older neighborhood.
I just wanted to tell her how much I enjoyed reading this article. I thought I’d be bored, but it was very interesting.
William Hilsdorf
South Park
A Simple Solution
I’m calling about “City Lights,” All Aboard for the Fairgrounds, by Moss Gropen (September 24). I rode the train up to Tustin twice a week from 1985, when my daughter was hurt in an accident — she was in Tustin, and I used to take the train to Santa Ana — until 1991, when she died. I took the train from the Del Mar station. I used to drive there and park — they opened up a big parking lot there. When the Coaster came in, they closed the Del Mar depot at 15th and Ocean Avenue, and they opened up a new station in Solana Beach and another one in Sorrento Valley. So, what’s the big deal? Open up the Del Mar train station again. It was perfect. Now they want to spend millions on a new station.
Kathy
University City
Wonderful Alleys
After reading Alex Finlayson’s story about alleys (I’m King of This Alley, Cover Story, September 17), I remembered the good old days growing up in San Diego, back in the ’60s. There are great alleys in the University Heights area. They were our passageways and playways every day. The alley behind our house would take you down to Cliff Street, down another alley to Adams Avenue to get to the store for candy and gum, etc.
Our garage had a basketball hoop, and that’s the alley where many games of horse were played by friends and neighbors. You never had to worry about cars; there were no Dumpsters. Alleys were a shortcut to friends’ homes and to get home.
My girlfriend and I had a set of walkie-talkies (we were spies), and our little radios would accidentally open a neighbor’s garage door. He had an automatic door opener and expensive Thunderbird cars. So we loved walking down that alley behind Panorama Drive. There were beautiful flowering vines that would trail down fences and fruit trees that would grow over gates on a walk down the alley.
The alleys were a child’s freedom back then.
Maureen M.
Escondido
Smells, Smoke, And Dogs
This letter is in response to “Name Withheld via voicemail” (Letters, September 17). This isn’t the best transit in the country. It’s the worst, at best. I definitely agree with the person. New drivers are not experienced enough to deal with people who are ill-mannered bums with dogs. I even have been confronted by their dogs. They use them to harass other people. A lot of them smell so bad, I’ve had to leave the bus at times, which caused me to be late for an appointment. The security officers have not done much to deal with the skateboarders in Old Town and other transit stations. They smoke where they are not supposed to.
I have encountered situations where I had to say something because others were too afraid to. Sometimes I would get cussed at, fingered at (“the bird”), and threatened with violence. What in the world gives these idiots the right to violate other people’s spaces and lives?
I am not afraid of them and tell them that.
I live in Ocean Beach and am sick and tired of having to defend myself and others. Hey, you bums and idiots, get a life.
Name Withheld
Vote For Name Withheld
I feel so much better after having read “Name Withheld’s” letter to the editor (Letters, September 17) in reference to I Blow Smoke on Your Law (“City Lights,” August 27).
I don’t live in El Cajon, nor am I aware of any members of the city council or the mayor.
I was encouraged, though, to see “Name Withheld” come forward and tell me about the “fear” on the council when it comes to voting. I feel confident that “Name Withheld” is afraid of nothing.
“Name Withheld” goes on to state that if he/she ran for office, the current officials would be afraid of him/her. “Name Withheld” also mentions that he/she would make things known to every citizen. Finally, somebody standing up to our elected officials!
Thank you, “Name Withheld.” I’ve noticed you have submitted a number of letters to the editor of not only the Reader but many other publications. Keep up the good work! I’m glad you have the guts to stand up for the rest of us and not be afraid!
If your name ever appears on a ballot, you’ve got my vote. You da man…or the woman?
Ron Clayton
via email
Holy Smokes!
This is regarding “Clown Council” (Letters, September 17). Regarding your comments, what does making a nonsmoking law have to do with being a religious fanatic? I know an atheist who doesn’t smoke and doesn’t care to breathe that stuff in. You don’t have to be religious to care about health and any allergies you may have.
For whatever reason/s the law was created, the idea behind it is to protect the majority (do your research) that are nonsmokers. Only 20 to 30 percent of people in the U.S. are smokers, and California is second only to Utah in having the least amount of smokers. So this is not just the council’s belief, this is the majority of people overall. Sure, there are some parts of town, where poorer/ uneducated people live, where it seems like smokers are the majority. Perhaps this is where you live, but that is only in certain areas. But the majority overall are still nonsmokers. So if you were elected, and you say you’d let the people’s voices be heard, the voices of the nonsmokers would overwhelm you so much, you wouldn’t even hear the voices of you smokers.
The real lamebrains are the smokers, polluting their ugly butts all over, causing fire hazards by throwing lit ones out the window, and don’t even get me started about them smoking in front of their helpless babies who aren’t able to complain about such things, nor get away from it, the way an adult can at least walk away. Perhaps one day this will be considered child abuse and/or when they grow up they can sue their parents for causing them health problems.
You also asked a question regarding when is it against the law to smoke outside in public. Well, we nonsmokers have been getting together, and that is why you are slowly seeing more towns in California becoming smoke-free, and I believe we’ll continue to see this occur, because there are more of us. Those of us who care about our health or, like me, have allergy symptoms that last all day if I even get one whiff of it from someone passing by, have a right to be heard. We were born into this world breathing clean air, and we have a right to sit at a bus bench or walk down the street and not have to smell or breathe it in. Smokers’ rights do not trump the right to breathe clean air. I cannot just remain in my house all day long. I have places to go, errands to run. I do not deserve the headaches, sore throat, runny nose, nausea, and coughing that I develop from having to smell this stuff in walking down the street or going into a doorway of a business with someone smoking outside it. Being outside does not make a difference. The smoke still reaches me. Especially if there isn’t much wind or if it’s extremely hot or cold out, the effects on me are much worse. I know many people like this. Some ignoramuses ask why don’t you also ban barbecues and car exhaust. Because those things do not cause these symptoms in us.
So it seems to me that you are the actual clown — for being ignorant in thinking that smokers are the majority — and a follower, because from your letter, it sounds like you’re also a smoker, and isn’t that how most people start smoking anyway, by following what the other kids were doing way back when?
That El Cajon law is difficult, however, as there’s no one to enforce it. Perhaps the enforcement will come one day when we majority nonsmokers get together against you smokers. Bring it on. We’ll be there. I’ll be on the front lines.
Name Withheld
via email
Puzzle Scandal
How did the people with perfect records for the crossword puzzle go up from the previous week? I love doing the puzzle, but I am puzzled at how you are keeping record. I find it hard to believe that there may be a scandal at a San Diego periodical.
Joseph Ciprian
via email
Everyone who submits a correct puzzle is included in the ranking database, so the count increases as correct entries are submitted. However, only the names of the first 100 contenders who submit correct entries and include comments are printed in the paper. The full list of winners, with and without comments, can be viewed on the Reader website at SDReader.com/puzzle — Editor
Here's something you might be interested in.
Letters
Letters
Definitely Not Boring
I just wanted to pay a compliment to Siobhan Braun, the woman who wrote San Diego Became a Beautiful Blonde (Cover Story, September 24). I read quite a few of your feature articles, and this is one of the most interesting. I lasted all the way through, even though she’s a mother with three kids and I’m a 70-year-old single guy. I remember going through the same exact things when I first came to San Diego, and I want to encourage her: she will find a house. Maybe a duplex or something in an older neighborhood.
I just wanted to tell her how much I enjoyed reading this article. I thought I’d be bored, but it was very interesting.
William Hilsdorf
South Park
A Simple Solution
I’m calling about “City Lights,” All Aboard for the Fairgrounds, by Moss Gropen (September 24). I rode the train up to Tustin twice a week from 1985, when my daughter was hurt in an accident — she was in Tustin, and I used to take the train to Santa Ana — until 1991, when she died. I took the train from the Del Mar station. I used to drive there and park — they opened up a big parking lot there. When the Coaster came in, they closed the Del Mar depot at 15th and Ocean Avenue, and they opened up a new station in Solana Beach and another one in Sorrento Valley. So, what’s the big deal? Open up the Del Mar train station again. It was perfect. Now they want to spend millions on a new station.
Kathy
University City
Wonderful Alleys
After reading Alex Finlayson’s story about alleys (I’m King of This Alley, Cover Story, September 17), I remembered the good old days growing up in San Diego, back in the ’60s. There are great alleys in the University Heights area. They were our passageways and playways every day. The alley behind our house would take you down to Cliff Street, down another alley to Adams Avenue to get to the store for candy and gum, etc.
Our garage had a basketball hoop, and that’s the alley where many games of horse were played by friends and neighbors. You never had to worry about cars; there were no Dumpsters. Alleys were a shortcut to friends’ homes and to get home.
My girlfriend and I had a set of walkie-talkies (we were spies), and our little radios would accidentally open a neighbor’s garage door. He had an automatic door opener and expensive Thunderbird cars. So we loved walking down that alley behind Panorama Drive. There were beautiful flowering vines that would trail down fences and fruit trees that would grow over gates on a walk down the alley.
The alleys were a child’s freedom back then.
Maureen M.
Escondido
Smells, Smoke, And Dogs
This letter is in response to “Name Withheld via voicemail” (Letters, September 17). This isn’t the best transit in the country. It’s the worst, at best. I definitely agree with the person. New drivers are not experienced enough to deal with people who are ill-mannered bums with dogs. I even have been confronted by their dogs. They use them to harass other people. A lot of them smell so bad, I’ve had to leave the bus at times, which caused me to be late for an appointment. The security officers have not done much to deal with the skateboarders in Old Town and other transit stations. They smoke where they are not supposed to.
I have encountered situations where I had to say something because others were too afraid to. Sometimes I would get cussed at, fingered at (“the bird”), and threatened with violence. What in the world gives these idiots the right to violate other people’s spaces and lives?
I am not afraid of them and tell them that.
I live in Ocean Beach and am sick and tired of having to defend myself and others. Hey, you bums and idiots, get a life.
Name Withheld
Vote For Name Withheld
I feel so much better after having read “Name Withheld’s” letter to the editor (Letters, September 17) in reference to I Blow Smoke on Your Law (“City Lights,” August 27).
I don’t live in El Cajon, nor am I aware of any members of the city council or the mayor.
I was encouraged, though, to see “Name Withheld” come forward and tell me about the “fear” on the council when it comes to voting. I feel confident that “Name Withheld” is afraid of nothing.
“Name Withheld” goes on to state that if he/she ran for office, the current officials would be afraid of him/her. “Name Withheld” also mentions that he/she would make things known to every citizen. Finally, somebody standing up to our elected officials!
Thank you, “Name Withheld.” I’ve noticed you have submitted a number of letters to the editor of not only the Reader but many other publications. Keep up the good work! I’m glad you have the guts to stand up for the rest of us and not be afraid!
If your name ever appears on a ballot, you’ve got my vote. You da man…or the woman?
Ron Clayton
via email
Holy Smokes!
This is regarding “Clown Council” (Letters, September 17). Regarding your comments, what does making a nonsmoking law have to do with being a religious fanatic? I know an atheist who doesn’t smoke and doesn’t care to breathe that stuff in. You don’t have to be religious to care about health and any allergies you may have.
For whatever reason/s the law was created, the idea behind it is to protect the majority (do your research) that are nonsmokers. Only 20 to 30 percent of people in the U.S. are smokers, and California is second only to Utah in having the least amount of smokers. So this is not just the council’s belief, this is the majority of people overall. Sure, there are some parts of town, where poorer/ uneducated people live, where it seems like smokers are the majority. Perhaps this is where you live, but that is only in certain areas. But the majority overall are still nonsmokers. So if you were elected, and you say you’d let the people’s voices be heard, the voices of the nonsmokers would overwhelm you so much, you wouldn’t even hear the voices of you smokers.
The real lamebrains are the smokers, polluting their ugly butts all over, causing fire hazards by throwing lit ones out the window, and don’t even get me started about them smoking in front of their helpless babies who aren’t able to complain about such things, nor get away from it, the way an adult can at least walk away. Perhaps one day this will be considered child abuse and/or when they grow up they can sue their parents for causing them health problems.
You also asked a question regarding when is it against the law to smoke outside in public. Well, we nonsmokers have been getting together, and that is why you are slowly seeing more towns in California becoming smoke-free, and I believe we’ll continue to see this occur, because there are more of us. Those of us who care about our health or, like me, have allergy symptoms that last all day if I even get one whiff of it from someone passing by, have a right to be heard. We were born into this world breathing clean air, and we have a right to sit at a bus bench or walk down the street and not have to smell or breathe it in. Smokers’ rights do not trump the right to breathe clean air. I cannot just remain in my house all day long. I have places to go, errands to run. I do not deserve the headaches, sore throat, runny nose, nausea, and coughing that I develop from having to smell this stuff in walking down the street or going into a doorway of a business with someone smoking outside it. Being outside does not make a difference. The smoke still reaches me. Especially if there isn’t much wind or if it’s extremely hot or cold out, the effects on me are much worse. I know many people like this. Some ignoramuses ask why don’t you also ban barbecues and car exhaust. Because those things do not cause these symptoms in us.
So it seems to me that you are the actual clown — for being ignorant in thinking that smokers are the majority — and a follower, because from your letter, it sounds like you’re also a smoker, and isn’t that how most people start smoking anyway, by following what the other kids were doing way back when?
That El Cajon law is difficult, however, as there’s no one to enforce it. Perhaps the enforcement will come one day when we majority nonsmokers get together against you smokers. Bring it on. We’ll be there. I’ll be on the front lines.
Name Withheld
via email
Puzzle Scandal
How did the people with perfect records for the crossword puzzle go up from the previous week? I love doing the puzzle, but I am puzzled at how you are keeping record. I find it hard to believe that there may be a scandal at a San Diego periodical.
Joseph Ciprian
via email
Everyone who submits a correct puzzle is included in the ranking database, so the count increases as correct entries are submitted. However, only the names of the first 100 contenders who submit correct entries and include comments are printed in the paper. The full list of winners, with and without comments, can be viewed on the Reader website at SDReader.com/puzzle — Editor
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